NV man sentenced in North Dakota stabbing death

January 29, 2014

BISMARCK (AP) - A Nevada man convicted of voluntary manslaughter in a killing on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison.

Twenty-two-year-old Waylon Hicks of Schurz, Nev., was accused of stabbing 30-year-old Jeremiah Sage, of Halliday, in the chest and slashing his throat at the New Town Marina in July 2012. Authorities found Sage's vehicle engulfed in flames, with his body inside.

Authorities said Hicks killed Sage after Sage tried to sexually assault him. A jury convicted Hicks last November of voluntary manslaughter but acquitted him of a more serious murder charge.

U.S. Attorney Timothy Purdon says Hicks also was ordered to pay more than $7,000 in restitution. Hicks will be on supervised release for three years following his prison term.